On to Light Shaping: At the Speed Of Light with Simeon Quarrie

On to Light Shaping is a new video series in which get to see 18 renowned portrait and wedding photographer create magic with Profoto Off-Camera Flash. In this video we join photographer Simeon Quarrie for a fun and fast pre-wedding photo shoot. When you are done watching, click here to see the rest of the series.

Wedding and commercial photographer Simeon Quarrie is based in London, UK, but has the whole world as office. Simeon, who lives a life of travel, values gear that is lightweight and fits into a suitcase. “The lighter you can travel, the better it is”, he says.

This particular shoot required Simeon and his small crew of three to fly to Cancun, Mexico. He brought his shining new Profoto Off-Camera Flash system with him. “It’s wicked to be able to fit camera, lenses, a B2 battery pack, two B2 Heads and modifiers in a single bag,” says Simeon. “I remember Kornel, my assistant, looking at the B2 and saying: ‘Well, guess I’m out of a job then!’”

In Cancun, Simeon and his team met up with the young couple for what is known as the pre-wedding session. This is basically a more relaxed and casual version of the main wedding shoot. In addition to often resulting in heart-warming, fun images, Simeon claims that the pre-wedding shoot is also a great way to get to know the couple better and help them relax in front of the camera.

With this in mind and his new Off-Camera Flash system at his disposal, Simeon decided to try something different. He was going to shoot the couple while driving a buggy. Here is how he pulled it off.

Simeon started off by using ambient light only. But he soon felt that he was lacking the punch and the quality of light that he is always looking for. Simeon’s assistant, who had realized that the B2 battery pack is small enough to be put in the buggy’s glove compartment, suggested that they put the pack there. Great idea thought Simeon and then put the slim, super lightweight B2 Head on a long stand and strapped it in front of the buggy. He also added a Zoom Reflector to the B2 Head to get a bit more punch in the image. All set. Good to go.

So Simeon and his assistant got into one car, the young couple in the other. Both drivers pressed the pedal to the floor. Simeon started shooting with his Canon 5D Mark III with a Canon 24-70L, wirelessly syncing and controlling the off-camera flash from the Air Remote TTL-C mounted on his camera. The exposure was set to 1/100th at f/8.0. ISO was set to 50. The two cars drove 300 meters and that was all there was to it. Bam. “That was it. I got my go-home-shot,” says Simeon.

“Getting that shot was one of the highlights of the day, and we were able to get it because of the equipment that we had,” he adds. “The shot wouldn’t have been possible with a heavier flash. The stand wouldn’t have been able to take it. Neither would it have been possible with a speedlight since we wouldn’t have had enough power in that case.”

As mentioned before, this was Simeon’s very first shoot with the Off-Camera Flash system, and according to him, he has only just tapped into the possibilities that the new system has to offer. “I have to be realistic about it, Profoto equipment is addictive,” he says. “This is just the beginning of a journey.”